Investing in our network
Find out how we’re prepared for the challenging weather conditions that the winter brings. We continue to improve the resilience of our network and ensure customers are looked after when the gas goes off.
Winter weather strategy
Our Severe Weather Guidance document sets out our winter weather strategy, and we have a dedicated Winter Incident Controller, Winter Incident Coordinator and Manager.
Robust contingency plans
We have robust contingency plans to ensure that our entire critical supply infrastructure is safe and in good condition. All trees on our site boundaries were inspected and felled before the winter to avoid storm damage.
Extra operational staff
We’ve recruited additional staff ready to deal with any gas network issues including Operational Response Engineers and extra Customer Contact Centre staff.
Extra maintenance staff
We’ve also employed extra maintenance staff to carry out site checks during evenings and weekends.
Multi-terrain vehicles
As well as access to a pool of 4×4 and multi-terrain vehicles, all of our operational vehicles have winter tyres, should we need to get to remote, snowbound locations.
Helicopters on standby
We use helicopters to check our network of high pressure pipelines to pinpoint any areas that might need action and complete regular surveys of vulnerable bridge and river crossings.
Flood protection
We’ve installed flood protection to protect our key assets and we’re remotely monitoring all of our critical supply equipment.
Mutual aid agreements
We also have mutual aid agreements with neighbouring distribution networks, so we can help each other out if we encounter severe weather.